New York City Mayor. was an American politician from New York, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously as a New York Supreme Court Justice from 1893 to 1909. As mayor he was noted as a reformer who broke ranks and refused to take orders from the Tammany boss Charles Francis Murphy. Early in his term, Gaynor was shot in the throat by James J. Gallagher, a discharged city employee who had been a New York dock Night Watchman from April 7, 1903 to July 19, 1910. Gaynor remains the only New York City mayor to be hit by a bullet during an assassination attempt. The violent incident happened on board the Europe-bound SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which was docked at Hoboken, New Jersey. Gallagher died in a prison in Trenton, New Jersey from paresis on February 4, 1913, the same year as Gaynor's death. Observing Gaynor in conversation, New York World photographer William Warnecke snapped what he thought would be a typical, if uneventful, photo of the new Mayor. Instead, Warnecke captured the very moment that Gallagher, at point-blank range, shot a bullet through Gaynor's neck. The rarely seen snapshot remains one of the greatest, though horrific, photographs in the history of photojournalism. Although Gaynor quickly recovered, the bullet remained lodged in his throat for the next three years. During his term as mayor, Gaynor was widely considered a strong candidate for Governor or President. Tammany Hall refused to nominate him for reelection to a second term, but after accepting the nomination from an independent group of voters, he set sail for Europe aboard RMS Baltic. Six days later, on September 10, 1913, Gaynor died suddenly on a deck chair aboard the liner. After his death, doctors concluded that he died of a heart attack, and that his old wound was at most a minor contributing factor. Gaynor is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
New York City Mayor. was an American politician from New York, associated with the Tammany Hall political machine. He served as the 94th mayor of the City of New York from 1910 to 1913, and previously as a New York Supreme Court Justice from 1893 to 1909. As mayor he was noted as a reformer who broke ranks and refused to take orders from the Tammany boss Charles Francis Murphy. Early in his term, Gaynor was shot in the throat by James J. Gallagher, a discharged city employee who had been a New York dock Night Watchman from April 7, 1903 to July 19, 1910. Gaynor remains the only New York City mayor to be hit by a bullet during an assassination attempt. The violent incident happened on board the Europe-bound SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, which was docked at Hoboken, New Jersey. Gallagher died in a prison in Trenton, New Jersey from paresis on February 4, 1913, the same year as Gaynor's death. Observing Gaynor in conversation, New York World photographer William Warnecke snapped what he thought would be a typical, if uneventful, photo of the new Mayor. Instead, Warnecke captured the very moment that Gallagher, at point-blank range, shot a bullet through Gaynor's neck. The rarely seen snapshot remains one of the greatest, though horrific, photographs in the history of photojournalism. Although Gaynor quickly recovered, the bullet remained lodged in his throat for the next three years. During his term as mayor, Gaynor was widely considered a strong candidate for Governor or President. Tammany Hall refused to nominate him for reelection to a second term, but after accepting the nomination from an independent group of voters, he set sail for Europe aboard RMS Baltic. Six days later, on September 10, 1913, Gaynor died suddenly on a deck chair aboard the liner. After his death, doctors concluded that he died of a heart attack, and that his old wound was at most a minor contributing factor. Gaynor is interred at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.
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